Mayor lobbies for tax hike to fight crime

STOCKTON - Mayor Anthony Silva used a Friday workshop to cajole his fellow council members into supporting a half-cent sales tax to hire police in an ongoing fight to curb the city's violence.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - Mayor Anthony Silva used a Friday workshop to cajole his fellow council members into supporting a half-cent sales tax to hire police in an ongoing fight to curb the city's violence.

His impassioned plea appeared to have little sway over his colleagues on the council, who expressed support for City Manager Bob Deis' approach, which they say has begun to pay off.

The debate over a tax hike, and how it plays out with Stockton's bankruptcy as its backdrop, could ultimately be decided by the city's voters later this year.

Silva said he feels that Stockton is needlessly locked in a "holding pattern" dealing with only bankruptcy. That has kept anyone from moving forward on a tax initiative he recently announced until after the city's bankruptcy has played out.

Every moment that's lost is a gamble on life, said Silva, who added that he promised voters he would take action. Silva said he's working with a coalition of unidentified business owners.

"There's momentum out there," Silva said. "If we don't give them a reason, they'll do it anyway."

Silva's comments came in a daylong retreat at the Stockton Golf & Country Club for the council and the city's top administrators. It was open to the public, but nobody outside of city leaders attended.

The session was set as a time to refine the City Council's strategic goals.

It didn't take long for the tax proposal to take center stage.

Silva has yet to formally announce the details of the initiative, but in an interview with The Record, Silva has said he seeks to put a voter initiative on the ballot in June or November.

The narrowly crafted ballot language will require a two-thirds majority of voters, ensuring that an estimated $15 million raised annually will go only toward hiring police officers, he said.

Deis said he did not agree with Silva's assessment that Stockton's recovery effort is on hold.

"We're working on a lot of stuff," said Deis, who one week earlier unveiled the city's Marshall Plan on crime, an ambitious effort to change lives of the hardened gang members and target troubled neighborhoods, among other things.

Councilman Elbert Holman disagreed with Silva's characterization that a reprieve in Stockton's homicides - so far this year there's been one - was an act of God.

The city has enlisted help from the California Highway Patrol, aggressively targeted gangs, and made gun sweeps, Holman said.

"We're starting to see the fruits of our labor," said Holman, adding that putting more police on the job does not necessarily end Stockton's problems, because the county's criminal justice system is broken.

Silva asked Deis point blank to describe his plan that rivals a boost in police officers.

Deis pointed to the city's strategy that he and the council two years ago set with the two overarching themes of fixing the city's finances and restoring safety. The city needs to stay the course, Deis said.

Councilwoman Kathy Miller, who has openly opposed Silva's plan, told the mayor that it is their job as elected leaders to communicate the city's strategy each time they go into the community.

Councilman Michael Tubbs said it is the council's duty to define the focus and then gain consensus.

"It's not going to work if there are two plans, three plans, four plans," Tubbs said. "It has to be coordinated, or it won't work."

Councilman Moses Zapien said that rather than unveiling the mayor's bold tax plan, there needs to be a wide discussion. He favored planning in detail, much like a business would do.

"We simply do not want to say that we have an idea," Zapien said. "That it's probably going to work. 'Trust us on this.' "